Hands On

Shiny new connected cars may be all the rage at auto shows, but not everybody wants, or can afford, to swap their current ride for the latest model. Into that fray steps Vinli, an ambitious startup hoping to upgrade your car with WiFi, Bluetooth, LTE, an app store, and the power of the cloud, all for $99.95 and thirty seconds of installation. I took a trip with founder Mark Haidar to find out if it could really be so simple.

There's a war going on for your dashboard, and while Apple CarPlay and Android Auto might have designs on your digits, homegrown systems like Ford SYNC 3 aren't giving up. Latest iteration of Ford's infotainment platform, SYNC 3 raises its game in touchscreen responsiveness, voice recognition, and third-party app support. That makes a whole lot of difference behind the wheel, as I discovered when I took it for an extended test-drive in one of the first 2016 cars to offer it, the new Ford Escape.

Today we're having a peek at the photos we've been able to capture with the newest round of Samsung Galaxy S6 devices. As the hardware in each of the Galaxy S6 collection's bodies is the same or so similar it doesn't make a difference device-to-device, we're making no differentiation here between models. The tests are done, the reviews are done, now it's time to see some results. The following gallery of images includes photos taken by the Samsung Galaxy S6, the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge, and the Samsung Galaxy S6 Active.

Today we review the Samsung Galaxy S6 Active from AT&T. This device takes the innards of the Galaxy S6, expanding the exterior bits to make a device that's resistant to the elements as well as shock. You can drop this one. While the original Galaxy "Active" device wasn't quite as resistant to the one truest danger of all, dropping the darned thing, here we've been given a reprieve. And a good sign for the future. This device has everything the Galaxy S6 has, and more - a bigger battery too.

Making a sleek tablet with a detachable keyboard isn’t tough, but making one with both style and an affordable price tag takes another level of commitment. HP believes it has just the thing, however, in the shape of the new HP Pavilion x2. A 10-inch Windows tablet with a magnetically-clinging keyboard, USB-C, and over 10hrs of battery life, it’s hard not to see Microsoft’s Surface 3 right in HP’s sights. Surprisingly, though, the Pavilion x2 will start at under $300.

It can be tough being the middle child, but Amazon's Kindle Paperwhite is having its moment in the sun by copying the best parts of its more expensive sibling. Revamped today, the new Paperwhite gets a 300dpi e-paper display like the Kindle Voyage we reviewed last October, as well as Amazon's new typesetting engine and the company's specially-created font, Bookerly. While the refreshed Kindle Paperwhite isn't expected to ship until the end of June, but I've been playing with one in advance.

There's unquestionably an advantage to being the home team, and in Apple Music's case that means coming preloaded on future iPhones while rivals like Spotify are stuck in the App Store. Apple's new streaming platform comes relatively late to the game - though, with Beats Music already under the Cupertino umbrella, it's been at least a stepparent to a streaming service for some time now - and, while that's allowed Tidal, Spotify, and others to grab the earlier adopters, it's also given Apple's team a chance to identify what some of the potential shortcomings in the current market. Turns out, a big part of that comes down to real, actual people rather than just algorithms. While it won't be until the end of June until Apple Music starts accepting new listeners, I got a preview at WWDC following the launch.

I was all ready to trash WristBoom, and then I thought of my grandmother. Well, alright, there were a couple of stages in-between, but I had to drop the “cynical geek” persona and think outside the bubble to properly appreciate a chunky Bluetooth speaker you wear strapped to your wrist. And, while I’m still not sure this is the product the world has been holding its breath for, that’s not to say I’m unconvinced by its odd charms.

Huawei's TalkBand B2 wearable, squeezing a Bluetooth headset into a wristband, lands in the US this week, and it's bringing a Jawbone UP surprise. The detachable headset - announced back in March at Mobile World Congress - will hit virtual shelves today, priced from $179.99, and as well as offering a way to make calls it will also deliver the same sort of activity and sleep tracking as you'd find in a dedicated fitness wearable such as Jawbone's UP3.

Huawei isn't first to think it can coax America off its smartphone subsidy addiction, but the new P8 lite is more than an also-ran in unlocked devices. Launching today as the pared-back - and thus more affordable - sibling to the Huawei P8, the P8 lite carries a $249.99 price tag but hits that with no need for carrier financing or any sort of minimum contract: just slot in the AT&T or T-Mobile USA SIM card of your choice. With a tag like that, though, you know Huawei had to trim some of the tech.